


Real Estate

by localchampion



Category: Impractical Jokers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-03-23 15:17:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13790457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localchampion/pseuds/localchampion
Summary: Murr is looking for a new place, and Jaclyn is trying to do her best to assist him with that, without letting feelings get in the way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Update 4/6/18 - Broke the story into chapters

"Mr. Murray?" He heard his name being called and looked up from his phone.

"Yes, hi, you can call me James" he replied as he jumped up to shake hands with his new realtor. He decided it was time to find a new apartment that more suited where he was in life. This realtor came highly recommended, so he had set up a meeting.

"Nice to meet you James, I'm Jaclyn, come on back to my office."

He couldn't help but check her out as she walked ahead of him. In her high heels she was almost as tall as he was, wearing a tight black pencil skirt and a silk blouse. Her brown hair bounced across her shoulders with every step. She was a vision of polished professionalism and he couldn't help but stare.

"Please have a seat." She gestured as she sat behind her desk. "I understand you're looking to sell your current apartment and find a new space, correct?"

"Yea, looking for something new, maybe move up a bit."

"So will this be just for you, or is there a spouse, significant other, kids, pets, whoever, that we need to take into consideration?"

"Oh no, I'm a single guy," he replied with a smile.

"Ok. Anything you're looking for specifically?"

"Umm, wow, I guess I do prefer brunettes" he said, twitching his head to the side nervously. She threw her head back laughing.

"Oh my god, no! I meant in an apartment, not a partner!" She laughed.

"Oh my god" he said as he hid his face in his hands to hid the blush rising up in his cheeks and the cringe on his face. He couldn’t believe he had just said something so dumb in front of someone he was trying to make a good impression on, at the very least on a professional level.

"I needed a laugh like that, thank you!” she said reached across her desk to touch his arm reassuringly. “But really, what are you looking for in an apartment? That’s where my line of expertise lies.”

He proceeded to explain he wanted something with more space to entertain and with a great view if possible. They discussed the details of selling his current apartment and what that would entail, including staging the apartment for any showings. She assured him that she would be able to get him a great price on his current place, and she’d do her best to get him a good deal the new place.

“So that’s pretty much everything I have regarding the real estate side of things. Do you have any other questions for me on anything else?” she asked after wrapping up everything she needed to cover with him.

"What got you into this line of work?" He asked, leaning forward in his chair. That wasn’t the first question that popped into his head, but he figured ‘Are you single’ would be a bit forward.

"Well I wanted to go into interior design, but when I was in college the recession hit, so I needed something else to bring in income, so I got into real estate. I know that doesn’t make a ton of sense, but I got in the door when so many were getting out and I was able to really establish myself. And the fact that we also offer interior design services, since that is my passion, really sets us apart."

"Excellent, well I think this is going to work out great."

"I do too. I'll start looking at what's coming available, keep an eye out for any open showings, and see about getting you in to look at a few places soon. Will you be around town?"

"Yea, my show doesn’t have any tour dates out of the area anytime soon."

“I knew you were on TV, but you go out on the road too?”

“Yea, it all keeps me pretty busy. And I wrote a book that’s coming out this summer too.” He said with a proud grin.

“Wow, now does seem like the right time to upgrade your space then! We should be able to get moving on all this right away then. It was great to meet you." She replied reaching her hand across the desk to shake his as she stood up.

“The pleasure is all mine” he said meeting her hand shake while looking her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile back at him. She walked him back out to the front of her office, and after the door shut behind him she sat on the edge of her assistant Victoria's desk.

"He seems like he's going to be really easy to work with, which is such a nice change of pace."

"You know he was checking you out, right?" Victoria replied.

"Really?"

Victoria nodded and Jaclyn shrugged. "Yea, I guess he was kinda cute, huh?"

"Can you date a client?"

"Oh god no." Jaclyn replied sternly, but she was more reminding herself. "Anyway, nothing has been added to my schedule for the day, right? I wanna get going to my spin class."

"Nope, you're good for the rest of the night. Have fun at your spin class, gotta keep things tight for your TV star."

"Ok, I can fire you, remember that." Jaclyn said laughing as she got up to leave.

~

The following week, Jaclyn had found a few promising locations that she wanted to show James, especially since there were showings coming up and she knew she would need to act quick in the current market. She called him up and he answered right away.

“Hey James, this is Jaclyn from JR Realty, how are you today?”

“Hey Jaclyn! I’m great, how are you?”

"Good thanks. I have details on a few places that are going to have showings this week that you might be interested in. Would you be able to meet up sometime today to take a look and see if you're interested?"

"Yea, we're going to be going on lunch soon and there's a Starbucks across from Washington Square Park on 4th Street if you want to meet there?"

"Sounds great, I can be there in 20 minutes." She replied.

“See you soon.”

"Ok, I'm going to grab lunch" she said to Victoria pulling on her coat on her way out of her office.

"Do you want me send those showings to Mr. Murray?"

"No, I'm gonna go take care of that now. Can you send out the ones to the Smiths and then schedule that showing at the Greenbergs'? Call me if you have any issues."

"Ok, have fun on your lunch date." Victoria retorted with a smirk. Jaclyn rolled her eyes as she walked out the door.

~

A short time later they called for the lunch break and Murr quickly gathered his things up as he was already running late.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Joe called after him.

"Meeting" he said as he started to rush across the park. He burst in to the café to find Jaclyn sitting behind her laptop with a giant iced coffee and another smaller coffee cup in front of her.

"Hey, how's it going?" She said as she stood up and extended her hand for a shake. "I got you a coffee, it's just black, I wasn't sure how you drink it."

"Oh, thank you!" He said sitting down across from her at the small table.

"Not a problem, I'll try to keep this quick so you can get back to work." She started clicking around on her computer then slid it around to show him the screen. "Ok so this one," she started leaning around to look at the screen herself. "Ugh, this isn't working" she said as she slid her chair around to his side of the table so they were sitting elbow to elbow and started describing the property, it's price, and location.

He couldn’t help but catch a whiff of her lavender perfume, and he tried to subtly examine her features now that they were sitting so close.

"They're having a showing tomorrow night. If you're interested I can go and book a private showing if it seems like it might be something that could work, or you can come as well if you're available and check it out first hand."

"I'll go," he replied almost too quickly as he snapped back to reality. "It's not that I don't trust your judgment, I just want to see it in person." He recovered.

"Don't worry, I completely understand. It makes my job easier that way too." She touched his arm reassuringly and smiled. She circled the details of the open house on the print off she had for him. “Here, take this too, in case you need to get ahold of me.” She said writing down her personal phone number at the top of the page.

She showed him a few more and they agreed to go check out a few of them together as he was insistent that he be involved in such a major purchase. It was then there was a banging on the window in front of them. They both jumped with a start. Joe and Sal were on the other side of the glass waving at them with big dumb smiles on their faces.

"I should get going, looks like my break is over. I will see you tomorrow night." He said with a smile.

"Yes, see you then!" She said, again reaching out to shake his hand. He gathered up his copies of the paperwork and headed out, his head buzzing with thoughts. The way she touched his arm and bought him coffee, but the formal handshakes. ‘She’s just being polite and professional in a job that requires charm and personality’ he reminded himself. He knew that he did this so often, thinking there was something there, only to find himself alone and disappointed when he realized he was reading into things too much.

"I thought you said you had a meeting?" Joe asked when he met back up with them on set.

"I did, that was my realtor" Murr replied.

"Looked like you had somethin' goin' there" Joe retorted. Murr made an exasperated noise and walked away, even more confused.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The car service dropped him off outside the building that he was considering moving into. He got out and looked at it. From the outside he worried that it would be outside his price range, but Jaclyn had insisted that they check it out. The entire building had been recently renovated, and the neighborhood seemed to be buzzing with activity on the early spring night.

He spotted her walking up the street, strutting confidently in her heels, moving as easily as if they were bedroom slippers. He always found it remarkable when people moved with such ease in heels.

“Hey! First impression, what do you think of the place?” She asked as she approached, reaching out and touching his arm.

“Looks expensive” he replied honestly, but the smile never left his face.

“Well let’s go in, I know the people that are listing the building, which will help with the bottom line I think.” She said giving a gentle tug on his arm that he realized she hadn’t let go of.

They entered the building and took the elevator up to the fourth floor. When they got off, they ventured into the apartment that was being shown. There was quite the crowd there already, music was playing in the background under the chatter of the room.

“Tomas!” She said greeting a man that Murr believed was physical manifestation of the phrase tall, dark and handsome. She kissed him once on each cheek before turning back to Murr. “This is James, we’re here to see if maybe he’s interested in purchasing this amazing place! It really looks great.”

“Well help yourselves to a drink and take a look around. We have a few other spaces in this building, but this one is the best. Let me know if you have any questions.” He replied with a thick accent before turning to greet some more people who had just arrived.

They went to the kitchen where a bartender was set up behind the kitchen island. Jaclyn took a white wine, while Murr grabbed a beer and they looked around the kitchen.

“Do you cook?” She asked.

“Not really” he replied. “It’s easier just to go out since I work late so often.”

“I agree, I do the same thing. Or order in, which always feels kinda sad.” She said with a bit of a laugh.

They walked through the whole space, which had high ceilings and big windows in the living and dining rooms. The bedrooms were in the back of the apartment, but being on the corner, still had windows to let in natural light.

“If you like this place, we should really come back when it’s light out so we can take a look at the views and the natural lighting. Are you free tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yea, tomorrow we actually have the day off.”

“Great, I’m going to go talk to Tomas and see about getting back in here tomorrow. Oh and I could come over to check out your place first so I know exactly what I’m working with, then we can also go check out those other two apartments we discussed yesterday, if you want?” She was becoming more and more excited about the plans as they formed in her head.

“Yea, I’d like that” he replied, smile crossing his face. She squeezed his arm this time and went to find Tomas. On her way over to the other agent, she stopped and made small talk with some of her acquaintances that she ran into, and Murr watched her work the room, she was clearly in her element. He wondered if he’d be able to get to know her better before this whole process was over. Was she even interested in getting to know him better? She glanced over her shoulder at him and he tried to play it cool like he was just looking around the space.

When she came back, she found him standing near one of the big windows, trying to take in the view as best as he could in the darkness. ‘Maybe it’s the wine talking, but he is attractive, and so nice’ she thought to herself. She looked down at the glass in her hand and realized she had barely had any. ‘Ok,’ she thought, ‘maybe it isn’t the wine.’

He looked over at her as she walked back. “Ok, we are all set for tomorrow. Do you like this one?”

“Yea, it’s a nice location and size” he replied.

“You know, there’s a lot you could do with decorating this place too. I don’t know how much you’re looking to invest in things like furniture, or what you want to move from your current place, but there’s a lot of potential here.”

“I agree” he said, not really responding to what she was saying as he found himself staring in her eyes. “Do you live far from here?” he asked after snapping himself back to attention.

“Not too far. I’m over in Greenwich, actually not too far from where we met up yesterday. Are you from around here originally?”

“Yea, I’m from Staten Island.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed!” She replied, clearly surprised.

“Yea, I don’t have a lot of an accent” he said tweaking his neck nervously. “Are you from here originally?”

“Yea, my parents live on East 89th” she replied.

“Oh upper eastsider!” he said with a grin and she rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“Don’t hold it against me. I’ve busted my ass to build my business and reputation! Not everything was handed to me on a silver platter.” She said defensively. She came from a wealthy family and enjoyed the lifestyle it afforded her, but she was proud of what she had built for herself.

“No, no, you’re clearly very good at what you do! You’ve been amazing with this whole process so far!”

“Thank you. I mean yes, knowing people through my parents has really helped me, but if I sucked, I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am.”

They continued talking about growing up in the city, and their jobs until she realized that it had been at least an hour and almost everyone else had left.

“Oh, wow, we should get going, they’re going to be looking to clean up soon” she said rushing to grab her coat. He downed the rest of his beer, which had gotten warm in the time he spent talking and not drinking, and followed her out.

“So I will meet you at your place at 1?”

“Looking forward to it” he smiled broadly, and she smiled back. She turned to leave, but paused and almost turned back. She felt like she should say something more, but she just waved and headed toward where her car was parked. He hailed himself a cab and spent the whole ride back to his place wondering what she was going to say when she turned back.

~

The day started with Jaclyn arriving at his place to assess what would need to be done when they were ready to show the apartment.

"Hi, welcome," he said opening the door wide for her.

"Thank you, I'm excited to get started today. Your place looks great by the way, I like your style."

"Thank you" he said with a grin. He showed her around and she made comments on the tweaks she would make before sending her photographer over to take photos for the website.

They then piled into her car and she drove to the first private showing. Murr tried not to eavesdrop as she took a call from another agent and easily negotiated the asking price down for another client.

"Perfect, Jonathan, we have a deal. Send the paperwork to Victoria and we'll be closed by the end of the week." She said pressing the button to end the call. "Sorry about that, had to get that done."

"No problem, I hope you're able to get me a deal like that." He said with a laugh.

"Oh yea, that won't be a problem. Ok, this is the first place." She said pulling up in front of the building.

They went inside and toured the apartment. It wasn't as spacious as they had hoped, but the location was good and the price was fair. Then they went back to the apartment they had visited the night before. Tomas showed them around, giving them many more details and Jaclyn started negotiating price with him.

"Well, your offer is fair, but we do have one more place to look at still. You have my number, if you realize you can do better than you’re currently offering, you know how to get a hold of me." She said confidently as they walked out.

"Wow, I'm glad I have you on my side and not the other way around!" He said after they were on the elevator back down.

"What can I say, I'm good at what I do." She said with a smile to him.

They arrived at the last apartment and were greeted by an older real estate agent who showed them around the loft apartment on the top floor of the building.

"I have to take this call, I'll be just outside if you need anything" she said hurrying out the door. Jaclyn walked over by the windows in the living room.

"Come check out this view, it's breathtaking."

"Yea" he replied from across the room. She turned around and realized he was not looking out the windows in front of her, but rather right at her. She looked at him as he crossed the empty room to her, a mix of feelings played across her face; frustration, flattery, a hint of longing.

"James" she sighed as he approached. She couldn’t deny that there was a mutual attraction. "I can't... not yet."

"Not yet, so?" He asked with a bit of hope in his voice.

"We need to sell your place, get you into a new one and then..."

"And then you'll let me take you out, to thank you for all your hard work?"

"That sounds perfect."

"Ok, I'll take this place, whatever the asking price is, it's a deal" he said with a laugh and she threw her head back laughing as well. They made their way back to the front door where the listing agent was waiting.

"Thank you for showing us around Brenda. Mr. Murray has a lot to consider, so I will be in touch." She said with a handshake. They went back out to her car and sat in silence for a moment before she started her car to drive him back to his place.

"So, are any of these promising?" She asked, genuinely unsure if she wanted the answer to be a yes or no. No, and nothing would change between them. Yes, and things change, but would that be a bad thing?

“I actually really like this one. I like the extra space of the loft, and all the light coming in.”

“Great, I’ll reach out to Brenda tomorrow morning.”

As she drove back to his apartment as she continued to explain what their next steps would be. When she pulled up in front of his building, they sat in silence for a moment.

“So I guess I’ll be in touch then when I have some more information for you” she said turning to look at him. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. The blush flooded her cheeks, all while she felt like she was melting from the simple act.

“I… umm, will talk to you later then.” He said getting out of the car. He turned and waved and she waved back, still not sure what to make of the feeling that had overtaken her. She pulled back out on to the street and drove away to think.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The next few weeks were very busy for Jaclyn. She had worked her magic and talked down the price for the top floor loft apartment and got James a great deal. Unfortunately with that portion of the work being done, she found herself going to his old apartment alone to show it to prospective buyers. His things had already been moved out, so it was just another space to sell.

She had to keep him up-to-date with the showings, but communication between them had slowed down compared to the flurry of time they had spent together at the beginning of the process. She figured that any interest he had in her had probably faded, but he was still on her mind, and not just because his old apartment was still a potential source of income.

~

He had just landed at JFK, coming back from a weekend of shows when he got her message that they had a great offer and the potential buyer was ready to close, but only if he could get the paperwork first thing Monday morning before he left town on business again. He texted her back that he was on his way. When he got to her office she was sitting on the front desk, dressed much more casually than he had ever seen her before, wearing skinny jeans, a red boat neck blouse, most shockingly, flats.

"Hey, thanks for coming in like this. They wanted to have the paperwork delivered first thing in the morning."

"Not a problem, just need me to sign a few things?"

"Yea, and then you will officially be rid of your old place" she said clicking the pen and handing it to him. He set to work signing the pages.

"You probably were doing this all weekend huh?"

"Yea, got to meet lots of fans, sign lots of autographs."

"That sounds fun."

"Yea, it's nice to meet people who appreciate what you do."

"I bet. Ok, and this is the last one here." She said pointing to the last line on the last page. "You are done! Congrats!" She said, standing as she extended her hand to shake his hand, but as he met her eyes, it seemed as if the breath was caught in her chest. She glanced from his eyes to his lips then back to his eyes.

He reached up, and caught her chin with his finger and tilted her face up to his. He leaned in and kissed her as her arms draped over his shoulders to pull him closer to her. She thought she had melted when he had unexpectedly kissed her cheek weeks before, but it was nothing compared to this.

"I've never been so glad to close a deal." She said almost out of breath when they pulled apart.

"Please let me take you out for dinner?" He asked politely.

"Sure, when?"

"Right now? I haven't eaten all day and I'm starving."

She laughed. "Ok, yea let's go." She reached across the desk and grabbed her jacket and purse and they headed out.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it wasn't glaringly obvious that I do not have any real estate experience. Shout out to Million Dollar Listing NY on Bravo and Zillow for the assist with this story.
> 
> A part 2 should come soon!


End file.
